Why Millennials Don’t Vote, Part 1: Protests are More Exciting

Every four years, the presidency is up for grabs, and citizens have a chance to vote and put whoever they want in office. Many questions resurface around election years; however, no question resurfaces more frequently than this: why aren’t millennials voting?

There are several well-documented reasons why people don’t vote, and I will discuss them both here and in several articles that will follow over the coming weeks.

The United States of America has long been regarded as a bastion of freedom, a protector of human rights, and a haven of free speech and civic engagement. The U.S., a democratic republic, encourages its citizens to engage in political discourse and debate to form and reinforce a true democracy. It also affords it citizens the ultimate tool of democracy: the right to vote and choose their leaders and representatives.

While voting participation has been atrocious among millennials, overall political participation has stayed the same–or even increased. According to Russell Dalton’s The Good Citizen, “Voting is important, but citizens are now much more likely to say they would turn to other methods when trying to influence the government.” Dalton, citing a 1967 Verba-Nie survey, reasserts the idea of political participation by saying that “[in 1967] two-thirds of the public said they were very or somewhat interested in politics. Twenty years later, however, rather than a subsequent drop in interest, political interest held steady in 1987, and it remained at this higher level when the question was repeated in 2000.”

Voting power is commonly seen as the tool that makes a democracy so great, but the political interests of today’s youth lie elsewhere: protests and boycotts have risen in popularity while voting has been left by the wayside. Millennials aren’t shying away from politics, but they are moving from duty-based citizenship (i.e. voting) to engaged citizenship. Engaged citizenship is a form of engagement that usually describes protesting, boycotts, occupy rallies, and signing a petition.

So why is engaged citizenship rising in popularity?

In short, engaged citizenship is more action-packed than voting. Protests are regularly held on college campuses and in major cities for a variety of reasons, and news cycles over the past five years have shown how involved young people have been in those events. Young people see protesting as a more explosive and attention-grabbing way to voice their opinion.

By contrast, voting has devolved into a mundane and boring activity, and it fails to capture the attention of young voters. In a 2008 New Yorker article, Jill Lepore explained that before progressive reforms, voting used to be exciting. Polling places weren’t set up under the drab fluorescent lighting of a high school gym; instead, they were set up in smoke-filled bars. Who wouldn’t want to vote for their candidate whilst downing an ice cold beer? Rowdy debates were held before voting began, and ballots were provided by each party. Granted, this did lead to corruption, and progressive reforms have provided safer and more secure voting. However, those improvements came at a cost.

Engaged citizenship has drawn the attention of millennials, so much so that they would rather protest than vote. To recapture their interest, we must return some excitement to voting. Once voting evolves out of mundanity, millennials will want to vote again.

About The Author

Chris Nuelle is currently a Junior studying Political Science and Political Communication at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He hopes to continue his involvement in political communications and writing after his four years at Xavier. Chris is also a campus correspondent for Campus Reform. He took an interest in politics during his high school years where he faced heavy liberal bias and indoctrination. He has volunteered on several campaigns, including Marco Rubio's presidential campaign and Rob Portman's Senatorial campaign. He also worked as the Deputy Communications Director on Catherine Hanaway's gubernatorial run in Missouri. Chris is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and is an huge fan of Cardinals baseball and Blues hockey.

4 Comments

Jared
on January 26, 2016 at 12:23 am

Citation on atrocious millennial voter turnout?

You cite Dalton in regards to political participation staying regular or increasing somewhat, but considering the turnout in 2012 was 54.9% compared to 36.4% in 2014’s election, both of which I voted in (as a Millennial btw, born in 87)

I don’t disagree in principle, though as Boyd noted somewhat crudely, this problem isn’t just millennials, it’s probably the population at large. They feel more engaged in terms of an online community through social networking and such or in a “mob” type group of citizens with one unified voice rather than as individuals who have varying views on solutions and what candidates offer.

Do you think the reforms that made voting less corrupt and more democratic went far enough?

I’m thinking of the fact that we still vote on Tuesday. This is an anachronism that politicians on both sides of the aisle cannot readily explain when asked. Certainly this makes it more difficult for people who work and/or have children to look after to vote.

There are lots of way to improve that aspect – I think one of the best ways if voting by mail. I’d guess 99% of people who enter a voting both have not studied all the races on the ballot – like city comptroller, sheriff, or local magistrate. Voting by mail makes it easier for people to make a more informed choice – plus it is very secure and cost-efficient. And it increases voter participation!

I think civic engagement is great, but I hope we don’t settle for the status quo of the current voting laws which are still quite archaic and contrary to voter engagementa.

Indeed. I’d go even farther and say that voting opportunities should be many more than are currently available. It is too easy to let the few voting dates slip by unattended too..and like you say…if it is on a Tuesday and requires your presence all the more easy to put it off. Although Texas does have two weeks of early voting when you can go in any day and vote.

The opportunities to vote, for example on retention elections for Civil Servants, Government Contracts or Sunset Laws, should be many. Voting should be so prevalent and easy, though verifiable, in our society the question each week should be, “What is there to vote on this week?” And those voting opportunities should be a basis for everyday conversation among all people. We, the voters, have power to decide our future…not some bureaucrat.

Democracy is a tool…if it is unused the reason it was designed will remain unfulfilled. We the People through voting have the power rein in the runaway Corporate mentality of our Governments…or not.

They do not vote because they are rabble and scum. Voting replaces so much horror it is not even debatable. To not vote is to create a vacuum which horror will fill. They have been tricked into eating out their inheritance…the right to vote and have a say in the rules applied over you. Is the value of “action-packed” watching the Federal Debt clock from from $10 trillion on down to almost $19 trillion now? Wow, what action. With the CBO warning our way of life is not sustainable unless we can go to $30 trillion in debt by 2030. Stay tuned, more action to come.

To say the Millennials have “chosen” engaged citizenship is to give them way to much credit. How many of them have exposed themselves to “The Notes of the Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787 by James Madison”, “The Cato Letters”, “The Federalist Papers”, “The Anti-Federalist Papers”…and much more? The capability to hold an intelligent conversation on the ideas and choices found in those works is to be “engaged”. To protest and run riot is the work of spoiled rabble and scum…not an engaged citizenry.

Do they protest the complete degeneration of our ability to track value…our money? No, they protest to get a greater share of the corporate chits (Federal Reserve Notes).

But the problem, in fairness is not to be place solely on Millennials, in Texas their Legislature had the capability to send Texas Constitutional Amendments to the public for approval. From 1991 to 2010 there were 154 proposed Amendments and 138 passed…that is 89% of them. The highest participating Voter percentage during that time was 16.8%, not even worthy of being considered to be a quorum, and the lowest was 5.4%. The Communists ruled the USSR with about 5% being party members. How disgusting is that?

The Islamist say they do not want western democracy….heck, do we???

Then in 2013 in Texas there was 1 proposed Amendment and the stat jumped to 29%. The next cycle in 2015 there were 8 proposed Amendments and all 8 passed with voter participation being 11%. Disgusting, but not the sole problem of Millennials.

These statistics come close to pushing me from being a believer in a Republic to becoming an Anarchist. It those around me abandon their “duty”…I’ll be dipped if I feel consanguine with sharing a Republic with them.